Georgia fugitive wanted on 10 felonies, captured in Florida

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A fugitive who was wanted out of Georgia was tracked down in Flagler County and now faces more felony charges after stealing from a Florida campground, deputies said. 

Deputies arrested 21-year-old Jerrod D. Oats of Jacksonville, along with a female companion, on Monday at 10 p.m. after a lengthy six-hour search.

Around 3 p.m. Monday, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office notified the Flagler deputies of a stolen Chevrolet truck with a Georgia plate that had entered Flagler County on State Road 100. 

The duo abandoned a stolen car along John Campbell Road — north of State Road 100 and reportedly fled into a wooded hunting camp attempting to evade capture, deputies said.

Deputies tracked shoe prints and clothing left behind by the suspects leading into the woods. 

Around 8 p.m., a resident called dispatch and said a woman had gotten into the back porch and was knocking on the door looking for a phone charger and something to drink, deputies said. 

Another resident captured Oats on a security camera and deputies were able to track his shoe prints which led them to a bunk house Oats was hiding in. Oats was taken into custody following a “brief pursuit” deputies said. 

Oats faces 10 felony counts for multiple active arrest warrants including armed robbery, willful obstruction of law enforcement, kidnapping, giving a false name to
law enforcement, sexual battery of a child under 16 years of age, aggravated assault, marijuana possession (two counts), theft by deception, and violation of probation.

He’s being held without bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility until he is extradited to Camden County, Georgia.